In China’s largest city, Shanghai, it has also begun offering "Trips," the guided tours launched last year in several other cities.

Airbnb’s chief executive Brian Chesky said: "There’s a whole new generation of Chinese travelers who want to see the world in an entirely different way. We hope that Aibingyi and our Trips product strike a chord with them."

Until now, Airbnb’s focus has been on Chinese tourists traveling overseas – but the new push aims to increase its share of the domestic tourism market, where it is only the third-placed player in home-sharing, after China’s Tujia and Xiaozhu.